Monday, August 19, 2013

It’s getting closer and closer.I’m having the time of my life planning and
organizing my training, travel, and life around this huge goal of mine.Sometimes I think it’s more about the journey
and what I’m learning about myself and my family and friends rather than what
actually happens on October 12th.I have learned so much about myself and about my relationship with my
husband, Lee and others who are close to me.There is no one in this world who knows me better than Lee.He just gets me and gets how much this means
to me.There are days when I start to
doubt my lofty goals, but he is always there with the words that brings in all
back to reality and puts it in perspective.Sunday mornings we get up and he kayaks while I swim and then we go for
coffee. Sunday morning swim workouts are my favorite!

Lee kayaking for me during my Sunday morning swim.

My training…I’ve walked a very fine line for 3 weeks between
overloading and over-training.Now this
week is my step back week where I’ve dropped the volume and spent more time on
some speed work and slept in a few mornings and caught up on the list of to “to
do’ items.Really – I have a running
list of things I need to take care of and do during my recovery week.They are things like making travel arrangements
for Vegas and Kona, registering my boys for their fall sports, calling the
cable company, getting my hair cut, and get things ready for the start of the
school year.

I have another big building block before I take 2 weeks to
fine tune leading into the 70.3 World championship race.I’ll take a small taper and use the 70.3 race
to check my gear and my fitness.

One thing about IM racing, I’ve learned through my few years
of racing at IMoo is it’s about durability and how much your body can hold
up.When we see people walking in the
marathon it’s not that their heart rate is so high and they can’t catch their
breath, but the fact their legs just have nothing left in them and they can’t
keep going.Another reason I belive so
many people end up walking in the marathon is the mental strength it takes to
finish the IM.It’s hard to explain how
much you have to hurt and how deep a person needs to dig to finish the IM.Anyone who does, no matter what the clock
says, needs to be proud of the accomplishment.

For me, Kona is more about finishing…I want to race that
race and I’m willing to dig deep.I’ve
spent hours mentally preparing for the start of the swim, the long climb to
Hawi, the windy hot sections making my way back to town, and the run…oh the run
how I have prepared for you.I will be
waiting for those negative voices at mile 6 and mile 16 and mile 20 and believe
me I know what I will say to them.

Right in front of Lava Java on Ali Drive ... marathon run course

Recovery…those who know me know how much I preach about
recovery.There is no reason to go out
and do mile repeats on the track and work at TT effort on the bike unless you
take the time to rest and recovery so your body can absorb all the training.I’m getting more and more particular about my
training and especially my recovery.Fridays are my body maintenance days – I go to the chiropractor every
Friday and get a massage every Friday.It’s not the relaxing kind where a person could fall asleep massage, but
the just about fly off the table in pain deep tissue massage.I literally work on my yoga breathing
techniques to get through the massages and I literally end up sweating.I sleep 10 hours a day – usually about 8 at
night and a 2 hour nap.I wear
compression A LOT.I really don’t even
mind grocery shopping in my compression socks anymore…it’s the new look –
right?

Staying sane…It’s very easy to get caught up in the training
and forget about the people who are helping me on this journey.It really does take a family of support to
make this all work for me.Lee and the
boys are very supportive.Every Thursday
night Lee and I go for dinner.It’s such
a great end to my big week of training.My big days are Monday thru Thursday.Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are much shorter.We usually plan fun activities with the boys
– go-carting, paint balling, tubing, fishing, renting movies and ordering pizza.

Getting ready for paintball. I had huge bruises on my legs for at least 2 weeks.

I have to give a huge shout out to Minnesota Hockey
Camps.My boys have made this camp their
home away from home this summer.They
love hockey and everything the camp has to offer.They are hard workers and have the support at
MHC to reach their goals and make their dreams their reality.If it wasn’t for MHC there is no way I would
allow myself to train the hours I do.Just knowing the boys are being taken care of by responsible and fun
counselors and coaches and they are eating good, having fun, and learning many
life lessons at camp.I can’t say THANK
YOU enough to Minnesota Hockey Camp.

The boys working hard at Minnesota Hockey Camp.

My goal of this blog was to be able to reach out to anyone
who wants to listen and realize you can do anything you set your mind to.When I first watched the IM World
Championship race on TV back in high school I said – One day I will race in
that race.At the time I was terrified
of the water and couldn’t swim 25 yards.Actually, I was so scared of the water I couldn’t put my face in the
water without my heart rate exploding. I signed up for a swim class my senior
year in high school and learned to swim.There were many life experiences that took place from them until now
like getting married to my HS sweetheart, having 5 wonderful boys, becoming a
teaching, and now even earning my master’s degree.But I never lost sight of the – “someday I
will race in that race”

So now, here I am with less than 8 weeks to go to “that race”.No matter what happens on October 12th
I will be happy and I will be proud of myself because I’m staying focused. I set out with a dream, made it into a goal,
and step by step I’m making my dream a reality.

When a person wants something deep down inside of them –
it’s their passion, it’s their dream and there is no stopping them from
reaching it.We all have that – we just
need to find our passion.Most of the
time I think too many people are scared of failure or scared of what others
might think or say.They may think they
are being selfish by following their passion.The truth is we all deserve the right to be happy and doing what you
love is one sure why to find happiness.

No one ever said it was going to be easy.There are very few people who are at the top
of their sports.In my opinion, there
are certain traits which a person needs to have to be a great athlete in their
sport.It takes dedication and
sacrifice.I have had to ask myself this
– how much am I willing to give up to reach my goal?It’s not about what I’m doing when other are
watching…it’s about the time I’m putting in when no one is watching.When there is no one there to push me – am I
willing to gut it out?You bet I
am.I believe it’s’ my hours in my Kona
room that are making me the triathlete I want to be.When it gets hard out there and I need to dig
deep I can go to all those training sessions when no one was there but me and I
dug deep and finished my training session.

Soon, the fall school year will start and I will be back
working.The boys will be starting
school and their fall sports.There will
be a lot going on this fall in the Andres house.I’m starting my master’s program this fall
too.I’ve structured my training where
I’m building a big base before fall so I can put more race pace effort and
speed work in my training with less volume.

My Team Andres Kona shirts are in the works and I’m very
excited about them!The Brainerd YMCA
has a great fall Road to Kona event planned…stay tuned!

Rough draft of the back of the shirt. I'll load the final product when completed.

Happy training….my next blog post will be right
before the 70.3 World Champs!